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Ioan Gruffudd plays revealing role in 'Forever'

Lynn Elber AP Television Writer

Posted:
07/15/2014 06:11:48 PM MDT

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Ioan Gruffudd on stage during the "Forever" panel at the Disney/ABC Television Group 2014 Summer TCA at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, July 15, 2014, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Ioan Gruffudd is used to playing extraordinary characters, but his latest comes with a special challenge.

In the "Fantastic Four" movies, he was the brainy shapeshifter Mister Fantastic. In ABC's upcoming series "Forever," the Welsh actor plays a man who is fated to die and be reborn over and over — and each time he comes back he's in the buff.

"It made me appreciate the fact that I had a muscle suit on as Mister Fantastic," Gruffudd, 39, told a TV critics' summer meeting Tuesday. "I'm not getting younger, so there's a commitment to the cause that one has to make" with diet and exercise.

He plays a New York City medical examiner who's keeping his immortality a secret, with Judd Hirsch playing his sole confidante. Alana De La Garza stars as a police detective who shares cases and chemistry with Gruffudd's Dr. Henry Morgan.

Asked if they would welcome the chance to live forever, Gruffudd and De La Garza had quick replies.